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We had them in Kuwait.....great around the base machines for carrying tools and materials. Not so hot for using patrols outside the perimeter. Suspensions just were a little weak for "RECREATIONAL RIDING" (wink, wink) by our Security Patrols. They moved to Arctic Cats ATVs and UTVs after the Gators.

To answer your 1st part, they are made by John Deere, although some subsystems are made by outside sources (engine and i think trannys) i have heard the reliability is comparable to the rest of the industry and their warranty is about normal compared to the rest of builders.

For your "are they any good" question, I looked at the extensively many times since they were new, test drove them more than once and even talked to owners and made the following conclusions about them. Unless they did a full redesign, they are definitely NOT a good Alaska machine for the following reasons.

1) Air intakes are WAY too low... like under the seat, about the same level as the floor. plan on sucking up A LOT of dust, dirt, water and swamp sludge. IF you get one, plan on going through many filters!

2) Not enough "flotation" for Alaska's many wet areas, they weigh 1600 lbs (if my memory is correct) completely dry, that means no oil, gas or fluids of any kind. On 4 wheels, this much weight sinks into mud faster then a footless moose would.

3) They ride just ok on groomed trails, but are downright brutally bouncy with any speed if you are on anything worse than a maintained dirt road. The suspensions bottom out WAY too easily even with only 1/2 of their listed max load.

4) With all that weight and the stance it has, it takes 4-6 grown people or 2 winches in less-than-perfect conditions to roll it on to the wheels if it ever rolls over, and if you roll it chances are that you are already in "less-than-ideal conditions" to start with. This combined with reason #3 and the chance of rolling it over doesn't add up.

5)With all that weight, any plastic not under the cage just explodes into worthless scrap if it rolls or even bumps anything too hard and suspension arms are easy to damage.

6) Parts are VERY expensive compared to other brands and are not commonly found in shops which means when you break stuff the machine can be down for 6-8 weeks if it is an essential part (maybe even longer in Alaska). And we all know how easy and common it is to break stuff without even trying hard, lol.

7) Lack of aftermarket parts to customize your rig. What is on the market is quite costly due to lack of competition. They use very little that is a common or shared part, almost the entire machine is all custom parts and quite a few of them change frequently through model years.

8) They slide WAY too easily on hard snow/ice so bad that they drive like it is on bald tires even when they are brand new if the snow is hardpacked by wind or thaw/freeze cycles. They also sink like it is on soupy mud if the snow is too loose. The only way they are fun on snow is if you are on freshly groomed trails or the natural snow is just right or only a few inches deep. Most of this is from them being overweight.

9) The electrical system isn't exactly waterproof... steam from a wet crossing or a lot of wheel splash has been known to knock the engine out until it dries out.

10) they chew through tires like a beaver chews through trees, it must have something to do with the weight of the platform.

11) did i mention they are HEAVY?!?

I'm not a John Deere hater. i have no preference on UTVs by brand name. I am primarily a ATV guy, but from what i have seen first hand while a member of a search and rescue team, and from feedback from current and former owners, they should almost never be taken off of the farm no matter where you are on the world!

Thanks. I made the same conclusions, and I am leaning toward a Ranger.

i agree about the j.d. staying on the farm. i had several rangers (2 and 4 passenger) for my special projects crew when working on the deep water horizon spill. they had some pretty serious limitations as well. the two worst ones were ingesting water on stream crossings and burnt belts when towing/dragging ANYTHING. they were awesome as a crew transport vehicle/light duty hauler.